Trump to Malzberg: I Was Vilified for Obama ‘Birther’ Challenge

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump told veteran radio broadcaster Steve Malzberg on Monday that he was vilified by the mainstream media for offering to donate $5 million to charity if President Barack Obama released his college transcripts.

“They all came to his defense: ‘How dare Trump do that?’” Trump said on the premiere of “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV in New York. “It was $5 million that can go to Sandy, but I would’ve been willing to pay much, much more than that.

The Malzberg show is broadcast by Newsmax Media Inc. It will also be carried live on SiriusXM’s Channel 166 nationwide, and will soon air on major terrestrial radio stations. The show can be seen live on Newsmax's website.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Trump launched a controversial “birther’’ campaign against President Obama, claiming that Obama was not born in Hawaii.

He offered $5 million to the charity of Obama’s choice if he produced his college records among others.

The president laughed off the challenge on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," saying that his disagreements with Trump dated “back to when we were growing up together in Kenya.”

But the real estate mogul told Malzberg on Monday that he was still shocked that Obama declined the offer, especially since it was for charity.

“I offered him $5 million if he showed, just showed, these college transcripts and also some documentation. Very simple stuff. Passport documentation. And he didn’t do it,” Trump said. “Then, I gave him a certain number — and I said I would raise it very, very substantially from $5 million, and he still didn’t do it.”

The mainstream media “thought it was terrible that I had asked for that,” Trump added. “He could’ve made a lot of money for showing a few documents — literally, a few pages worth of documents and maybe some passport documentation.”

Trump also talked about the American economy.

While Trump last year purchased two luxury golf courses — the Trump International Golf Links in Scotland for more than $155 million and the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in South Florida for $150 million — that’s not a reflection of an improving American economy.

“We’re in a contraction. The word ‘contraction’: We haven’t heard that in a long time — and we’ve contracted. We’re getting smaller as opposed to bigger. That’s not supposed to be happening.

“China in 2016 will take over — 2016, right down the corner, and it could be sooner if we continue to contract,” Trump added. “China will take over as the world’s greatest economic power in 2016.

“If you said that five years or 10 years ago, people would have laughed at you. But by 2016, or sooner, China will be the boss — and, to me, it’s just incredible. What we’re doing in this country is just incredible.”

Trump pointed to the 34-minute blackout Sunday night during Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans as another reflection of what is happening to the United States.